There will be no free rides to the new Barclays Center arena in Brooklyn.

The arena’s developer, Forest City Ratner, has scrapped its plan to offer MetroCards to ticketholders for Nets games or other events at the 18,200-seat arena, which opens Sept. 28, in order to encourage people not to drive.

The arena transportation plan announced today instead includes beefing up subway and bus service on game nights and relies on a massive marketing campaign to promote mass transit use.

It left many residents and elected officials fuming that the plan potentially creates more headaches – including jacked-up parking garage rates that could drive away shoppers in local business strips – while doing little to prevent traffic nightmares.

And now off the table are earlier plans to offer cash incentives for using mass transit during events – including fare discounts and free Metro Cards – and a proposal to embed MetroCard technology in game day tickets.

The Post reported last month that spaces in the arena’s main parking lot would be cut from 1,100 to 541 to avoid time-consuming stack-parking there.

But another 20 private lots operate within a half-mile of the arena, and officials estimate up to 2,500 vehicles could come to arena events. Most parking would be pre-paid online with private operators setting rates.

Parking expert Erik Feder of tiredofparkingtickets.com said many garages near Madison Square Garden routinely raise rates, which average about $30, to anywhere from $40 to $60 during major events. He warned to expect the same when Barclays Center opens.

“A private operator can charge whatever they want, so if parking is at a premium, they aren’t going to change less for people not going to sporting events unless they have monthly deals,” he said.

Although Forest City’s plan openly discourages driving, a big drawback is that people using the parking lots to go shopping, the movies or other non-arena uses would also pay the higher rates, and that could drive them away and hurt small businesses, critics say.

“It could be a big problem because a lot of residents, shoppers and workers who use these lots would be affected,” said Sandy Balboza, president of the Atlantic Avenue Betterment Association.

Councilwoman Letitia James during a meeting at Borough Hall questioned whether the plan would prevent huge lines of traffic from forming around the arena as many nearby residents fear.

But Jane Marshall, a senior vice president at Forest City Ratner, said “technology doesn’t exist yet” to implement Metro Card discount plans without risking the discounts being used for non-arena events.

The arena’s transportation plan –which also includes 400 spaces for bicycles – could be tweaked before the arena opening and will be re-evaluated in spring 2013.